Container for convenient opening



Dec. 5, 1967 J. B. WITCHELL CONTAINER FOR CONVENIENT OPENING Filed March 28, 1966 INVENTOR John B. WITCHELL United States Patent 3,356,244 CONTAINER FOR CONVENIENT OPENING John B. Witchell, Dorion, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Leco Industries Limited, St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada Filed Mar. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 537,788 1 Claim. (Cl. 21532) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The container includes a one-piece container body and cap and a neck of reduced diameter between the body and cap. The cap is to be removed by applying torsional stress to the neck portion, whereby it will shear.

The present invention relates to containers and particularly to a disposable bottle container of the type having a convenient opening.

Heretofore, disposable bottles have been developed with integral caps which can be conveniently broken away from the bottle in order to assure that the bottle is not re-used. To provide a cap which could be easily broken away for such bottles, the cap integral with the bottle has been, in most cases, provided with a weak line or area in the predetermined area of breakage between the cap and the bottle proper. However, the provision of a weak line or area on the bottle and in most cases at the neck thereof, has the disadvantage that the bottle can be accidentally broken, along the weak portion, especially when it is being handled. Furthermore, since most of these bottles have been made of glass, there is always the danger of chipping when the bottle is being opened for use.

The container in accordance with the present invention provides a disposable bottle having an integral cap which can be conveniently opened without breakage. No weak lines or areas are necessary, thereby preventing accidental breakage while handling.

In accordance with the present invention, the container comprises a hollow body including means adapted for filling said container with a fluid, said hollow body including a continuous wall of substantially constant thickness, the body including a waisted portion dividing said body into a cap portion and a receptacle portion, wherein the wall of said waisted portion is of axial extent suificient to permit shearing but insuflicient to permit axial twisting of said waisted portion and is devoid of any weakened area relative to the remaining wall of the body, the diameter of said waisted portion being substantially less than the diameter of the adjacent body portions, so that the wall of said waisted portion will shear first upon application of suificient torsional stress, thereby separating the two body portions and providing a dispensing orifice.

Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, particular reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment thereof in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation side view of the container;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the container shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section taken along lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 3, but showing the top separated from the container.

Referring now to the drawings, the container is generally identified with the reference numeral 15. The container 15 includes a cylindrical receptacle 17 having a bottom Wall 19 and a side wall 21. A hollow cap 23 is provided at the top of the container 15 and is integral with the waisted neck 25 connecting the hollow cap 23 3,356,244 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 to the receptacle 17. The cap 23 is also provided with radial wings 27 extending outwardly on each side of the cap 23.

The container 15 is preferably made from a polyethylene material and could be formed by a conventional blow-molding process, by slush-molding or by other known processes. The invention should not be considered as being restricted, however, to this material, for instance, various metals of the types now used in the container art have been contemplated.

The Wall of cap 23 and neck 25 is essentially of the same thickness as the wall of the receptacle 17, or it may be slightly reinforced. It has been established that the shear resistance of an annulus is proportional to at least the third power of the diameter of the annulus if the material remains the same. Applying this principle to the container 15, it will be seen that since the diameter of the waisted neck 25 is relatively smaller than the diameter of the cap 23 or the receptacle 17, its wall will shear more readily than the wall 21 of the receptacle 17 or the cap 23, even though the thickness of the waisted neck 25 is equal to or slightly greater than the walls of the receptacle 17 and the cap 23.

When the container 15 is first molded, the rim 29 of the cap 23 is open as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG- URE 3. Once the receptacle 17 has been filled from this opening, the rim 29 is heat sealed, thereby closing the container. Cap 23 shown in the drawings has been provided with an opening defined by rim 29 used for filling the receptacle 17. However, the opening for filling the receptacle 17 need not be integral with the cap 23 as shown but could also be separate as in the conventional containers of this type.

The wall of the waisted portion 25, which is not weakened by any grooves or weak lines, will not be broken or otherwise damaged by any force which would not normally damage the remainder of the container. The way in which the wall of the waisted portion 25 can be separated, is by applying a controlled twisting action to the wings 27, without having to jerk the cap or apply any other undue force to it.

The diameter of the waisted portion is predetermined to provide no more torsional shear resistance than can be overcome by applying a controlled manual twisting action to the wings 27, without requiring any jerking or snapping action to separate the waisted portion 25, but at the same time providing a suitable bore in the waisted portion 25 to permit the receptacle 17 to be filled.

In normal operation, the container 15 is for-med so that rim 29 is as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 3. The receptacle is then filled from the open cap 23 and the rim 29 is heat sealed. Once the consumer receives the container and wishes to use its contents, the wings 27 (which act as levers to increase the effective diameter of the cap) are twisted while holding the receptacle rigidly and the wall of the waisted neck 25 is thereby sheared leaving an orifice 31 as shown in FIGURE 4. The contents are then poured and the container 15 is destroyed. a

I claim:

A container comprising a hollow plastic body, said body including a continuous wall, the body including a waisted portion dividing said body into receptacle and cap portions, the wall of the waisted portion being of a uniform thickness, said waisted portion having a transverse cross section substantially less than its adjacent body portions whereby the wall of said waisted portion will shear upon application of torsional force to one of said adjacent body portions relative to the other, the hollow receptacle portion including an integral bottom and side walls, an annular shoulder sloping uniformly, sharply, inwardly from the top end of the receptacle side Wall to said waisted portion, said shoulder merging integrally with one end of an axially extending short hollow neck comprising said waisted portion, the neck includingv a Wall having a thickness at least equal to the thickness of said annular shoulder, the cap being connected to the other end of the neck and including a sharply inwardly sloping. shoulder merging with said neck,. the. cap being hollow and including radially extending grippable wings, the cap also including a rim defining an opening permitting the receptacle to be filled, said rim being adapted to be closed once said receptacle is filled.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,324,237 7/1943 Reichel 215-32 7 2,896,807 7/1959 Shaw 215-32 0 3,162,339 12/1964 Lecluyse 222541 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,181,592 1/1959 France.

10 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Examiner. 

